Claro Advisors LLC Sells 1,590 Shares of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN)

Claro Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN - Free Report) by 13.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,918 shares of the information technology services provider's stock after selling 1,590 shares during the period. Claro Advisors LLC's holdings in Accenture were worth $3,489,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ACN. Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new stake in shares of Accenture in the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Accenture during the third quarter worth $30,000. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Accenture by 607.1% in the third quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 99 shares of the information technology services provider's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Accenture in the 3rd quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Accenture during the third quarter valued at about $51,000. 75.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Accenture Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE ACN traded down $0.65 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $349.14. 2,711,134 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,723,260. Accenture plc has a 52 week low of $278.69 and a 52 week high of $387.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $218.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.55, a P/E/G ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 1.24. The business's fifty day moving average price is $357.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $344.63.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The information technology services provider reported $3.59 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.43 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $17.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $17.15 billion. Accenture had a return on equity of 26.83% and a net margin of 11.20%. Accenture's revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.27 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Accenture plc will post 12.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Accenture announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, September 26th that allows the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the information technology services provider to repurchase up to 1.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Accenture Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 16th will be paid a dividend of $1.48 per share. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 16th. Accenture's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.66%.

Insider Activity

In other Accenture news, CAO Melissa A. Burgum sold 458 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $373.25, for a total transaction of $170,948.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,777 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,649,265.25. This represents a 4.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Kathleen R. Mcclure sold 5,090 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $373.22, for a total value of $1,899,689.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 38,825 shares in the company, valued at $14,490,266.50. This trade represents a 11.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 36,673 shares of company stock worth $13,507,099 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on ACN shares. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Accenture from $422.00 to $429.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Accenture from $355.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Accenture from $352.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Accenture from $377.00 to $389.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $370.00 price objective on shares of Accenture in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $385.04.

Accenture Profile

Accenture plc, a professional services company, provides strategy and consulting, industry X, song, and technology and operation services worldwide. The company offers application services, including agile transformation, DevOps, application modernization, enterprise architecture, software and quality engineering, data management; intelligent automation comprising robotic process automation, natural language processing, and virtual agents; and application management services, as well as software engineering services; strategy and consulting services; data and analytics strategy, data discovery and augmentation, data management and beyond, data democratization, and industrialized solutions comprising turnkey analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) solutions; metaverse; and sustainability services.